John Thornhill is the founder of CentralEyes, a cloud-based platform which assists owners of retail and hospitality venues in the management of their sites. CentralEyes’ customer list includes Pix Pinxtos, a chain of Central London tapas bars founded by John, the first of which opened in 2009 and was customer zero.
John also co-founded Mojo (Moments of Joy), a mobile app to assist those who are supporting a loved one with dementia.
John’s most recent venture is High Life, a platform he founded which allows professionally piloted drones to be hired in a variety of locations around the Mediterranean.
We managed to sit down with John in a rare moment when he’s not juggling the responsibilities of running multiple businesses to discuss, amongst other things, the positives of the pandemic and how he harnesses negativity and fear to drive his success.
What inspired you to create your first tech business, CentralEyes?
JT: When I opened the first Pix bar back in 2009, I couldn’t find a single software platform which focussed on most of the key elements of managing a hospitality venue. I wanted one platform which could help in a variety of areas, such as staffing, HR, health and safety, rota planning, ordering, stock etc. I used my background as a technology consultant to develop my own platform, given the absence of anything suitable in the market to suit my requirements. Using the platform in my own business was a good place to start, as I was able to improve it in a live environment before going to market and offering it to other venues.
How has the pandemic affected your businesses? What workarounds did you implement?
JT: Covid resulted in the hospitality industry largely grinding to a halt and so, alongside Pix closing its doors during the lockdowns, demand for CentralEyes fell off a cliff. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though as I founded Mojo and High Life during the pandemic. I saw opportunities and used transferable skills to create two new businesses.
If you could start CentralEyes again, what would do differently?
JT: Less complex/bespoke coding projects! The key for CentralEyes is interoperability with existing software, so I would urge new software businesses to keep the development process as simple as possible; otherwise it could cost you in the long term.
What three skills do you think make a good entrepreneur?
JT: Vision, which shouldn’t be confused with strategy. You don’t necessarily need to know the pathway to your goal at the start of the journey but you should be able to visualise your destination. Strategy can stay fluid but the vision should always be fixed.
Presentation. It’s crucial to be able to articulate and explain your vision, both to investors and staff. You need people to buy into and share your vision so they will collaborate with you.
Attention to detail. You need to be disciplined and consider the detail whenever needed, even if you hate it…and that includes finalising key legal contracts!
What has been your most satisfying moment as an entrepreneur?
JT: There’s no one moment I can pinpoint on what I consider a journey of alternating successes and failures. Whenever a seemingly great milestone has been reached, I’m already thinking about the next project, so I don’t spend time being self-satisfied. I’m actually driven more by fear than I am by success.
What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur starting up their own business?
JT: Whenever possible, remunerate your initial key contributors with cash, rather than giving away shares early on. It’s tempting to bring partners along with you for the ride at the beginning, as you think that they are critical. However, you’re often proved wrong later on and it’s usually tough/expensive to get the shares back in the future.
I’m fine with granting share options to incentivise key employees in the medium-to-long term, but my preference for rewarding work provided in the short term is cash, rather than shares.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
JT: Negative push factors have always been useful for me in my journey. I’ve been disproportionately driven by people who have doubted me and who I have wanted to prove wrong…they’ll remain nameless though.
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